Irish employers are expecting to grow staffing levels across most industry sectors in the first quarter of 2015, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released today by Manpower Ireland.
Employers are reporting a seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook of +10% for January to March 2015, an increase of 13% on the previous quarter, and a substantial 16% ahead of the same time frame last year.
This is the strongest Net Employment Outlook figure reported in Ireland since Q2 2007, when the figure stood at +18%.
The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey is conducted by interviewing a representative sample of 620 Irish employers. All survey participants were asked: “How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of March 2015 as compared to the current quarter?”
Key findings from the report include:
- Staffing levels are forecast to grow in 10 of the 11 industry sectors evaluated
- Employers in the pharmaceutical sector expect the strongest job growth of all 11 sectors evaluated, reporting an outlook of +26%, which is up 17% on the previous quarter and a substantial 30% on the same period in 2014. This is also the strongest ranking for this sector in the Irish marketplace since Q3 2002.
- The construction sector also performed extremely well, registering an employment outlook of +13%, up 22% on the last quarter, making it the highest quarter on quarter growth for all sectors evaluated. This was also the highest quarter on quarter increase registered for all 24 EMEA countries surveyed. The next nearest was Spain, which reported a quarter on quarter increase of 10%.
- Employers in the transport, storage and communications sector reported the largest year-on-year growth, registering an employment outlook of +17% for Q1 2015, up 41% from -24% for the same period in 2014. This increase was, by far, the highest year on year increase registered for all 24 EMEA countries surveyed. The next nearest was Spain, which registered a year-on-year increase of 21%.
- Optimism among employers in the restaurant and hotels sector also improves sharply year on year, increasing 36% over the past 12 months to reach an employment outlook of +11% for Q1 2015.
- Mining and quarrying employers reported the least optimistic sector forecast, with employers reporting negative hiring intentions (-1%) despite an improvement of seven percentage points in both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year comparisons.
- Regionally, employers in Ulster report the most optimistic hiring intentions, with an outlook of +15%, up 17% on the last quarter. This is the strongest forecast reported for Ulster since Q2 2007.
- The hiring pace in Leinster is also expected to improve substantially, with employers registering an outlook of +12%, up 22% on Q4 2014. This is also the strongest forecast reported for Leinster since Q2 2007.
- Dublin’s forecast of +10% is up 8% quarter-on-quarter and 19% year-on-year. In addition, it is the strongest forecast reported for the region since Q3 2007.
- Connaught employers are reporting the weakest regional hiring plans with an outlook of +5%, dropping 1% since the last quarter.
Jonny Edgar, operations manager, Manpower Ireland says: “This is the strongest outlook reported in Ireland in nearly seven years, indicating that employers are much more confident that Ireland has finally turned the corner and is now on the path to substantial growth.
The fact that employers in 10 out of the 11 sectors surveyed plan to increase staff early next year is great news for job seekers. The pharmaceutical industry is expected to perform the strongest, which is evident from recent job announcements from companies such as Bristol Myers Squibb. With sentiment this strong, there is no doubt that optimism among Irish employers is entering 2015 on an extremely strong footing which is great news for the country as a whole.”
The next Manpower Employment Outlook Survey will be released on 10 March 2015 to report hiring expectations for the second quarter of 2015.
